By Jamie Hooper: Mike Tyson once again showed his appreciation of boxers gone by, with a very thoughtful visit to Merthyr Tydfil to lay flowers at the statute of the Matchstick Man Johnny Owen.
Mike was mobbed by the locals as he walked through the shopping centre to the location of the statue. There was no protesters, no woman’s groups, just a very excited crowd who looked amazed that Mike Tyson would visits they’re town.
As Mike isn’t exactly loved everywhere goes , he did look to be pleasantly surprised by the welcoming and well wishing crowd that gathered.
The acknowledgment that Mike gave to there local hero was very well received and the tribute he gave to the interviewer whilst at the statute has been a great boost to the memory of Johnny Owen and the family where over the moon about the whole experience.
This once again confirms the softer side off Mike Tyson, that has always been there. And was yet another demonstration of the breadth of boxing knowledge that Mike has.
When mike looked up at the statue off Johnny, he had a deep thoughtful expression on his face, which was clearly genuine and not for the cameras. He was musing on the great sacrifices made by all boxers that strive on the very lonely journey to become a world champion. In the case of Johnny Owen paying the ultimate price. After a blistering start against Guadeloupe Pintor, peppering him with punches not giving the champ time to settle.
But near the end of round eleven he was rocked by a straight right, then dropped for the first time in his career. This cause a severe laceration under his bottom lip causing him to swallow a lot of blood.
He was coached by his dad. Before the 12th round Johnny told his dad “we will be world champions after this round“. His dad told him this will be the last time you’ll need to fight, we wont have to go through one of these again.
During the 12th round Johnny Owen was caught by a straight right. Johnny dropped to the canvas, he was never to regain consciousness and died a few week later in hospital.
There has been a lot said about the lack off respect give to boxers by some commenter’s on sites like this.
I don’t mind people disliking some boxers and wanting to see them get beat. Because I am exactly the same. There are some boxers out there who I don’t like. But I can honestly say that I have respect for every boxer who has entered the ring. I’m even proud of myself for doing it whilst I was a student.
You will never here me booing the visiting fighter. They all get my clap of appreciation.
You can dislike and respect someone at the same time. I think when people do too much hating ,and the respect part isn’t present. It is sometimes worth while for those fans to do what mike Tyson has just done. Read the story of the Matchstick Man spend a bit of time appreciating the risks taken my boxers.
And hopefully your lacking levels of respect will be topped up to where they should be.
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